Tim Tebow: Why the QB Will Be a Part of the Denver Broncos Future

There is one reason, and really one reason alone why Tim Tebow will be a part of the Denver Broncos' future in 2011 and beyond: national exposure.

Absolutely, there are football reasons that support this claim but in a league that is arguing over who will get a larger piece of a nine billion dollar pie, NFL teams know they need stars to survive.

Tim Tebow is already that star for the Broncos. Need proof?

Switch over to the Carolina Panthers page on Bleacher Report (after you finish reading this of course) and see what kind of readership Cam Newton pieces are getting.

As much as I would like to convince myself that my numbers go up on “Tim Tebow” articles because they are expertly written, the truth is that the subject matter is the driver.

Clearly Tebow had a much more accomplished and polished NCAA career than Newton, but the similarities are close enough that a comparison between the two is warranted.

According to the Associated Press, Tim Tebow had the fifth-highest selling jersey in the league last year.

It’s still very early in the game to make a prediction like this but here it goes…

Cam Newton will not be able to boast the same next year and Tim Tebow will rank higher than fifth.

For a team struggling to return to prominence like the Broncos, who better to lead the charge than the 10th most influential athlete according to Forbes?

John Elway has already said that he hopes that “Tebow becomes a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Broncos.” Well, Elway needs to clear the way for Tebow to actually take the field and start the march to Canton.

This is where the decision starts to make football sense as well.

The argument will continue to rage over which quarterback, Orton or Tebow, should start for the Broncos in 2011.

However, the decision really shouldn’t come down to play on the field because there are more important factors at play. The media attention has already been addressed but what about the value on the field?

The truth is that even though other teams know what a marketing machine Tim Tebow is, the actual market for his services doesn’t begin to compare to that of Kyle Orton.

Teams like the Cardinals, Vikings and others will be willing to part with valuable assets in order to acquire the services of a ready-to-take-the-field starting quarterback like Orton.

Those assets could go a long way to making the Broncos a much better team than they are now. Keeping Orton as the starting quarterback means that the Broncos would remain stationary in 2011.

Deciding to part with Orton and go with Tebow would be a step forward for the Broncos. The hope is that it doesn’t result in eventually taking two steps back.

Remember, drafting Jay Cutler and supplanting Jake Plummer was viewed as a step forward as well.

The Broncos will have to be careful not to make the same mistakes, but glory rarely awaits the teams who refuse to risk anything at all.

Simply put, if Tebow was still the same player who was famous for making a “jump pass” on situational downs at Florida, his legend would not be what it is today.

Tim Tebow became a star and created a following by winning.

 If the Broncos can help him continue to do that, then he might be the only player with the right combination of star power and talent to step out of the imposing shadow that his new boss has cast over Denver for the past 25 years.

The Broncos WILL take the steps necessary to see if he can actually do it.